Thursday, July 20, 2006

And some people never pick up change... but I do. (See Rule #3)Today I found a dime on my way out of the subway-- whoohoo! And then I picked up some change in a different way-- the deli where I buy my morning coffee and bagel gave me an extra 20 cents in change. I noticed it at the time, but didn't say anything. Not because I am a dishonest sleazy person but because there have been a couple times in the past where they short-changed me and I figure this evens the score a little. I'm usually pretty good about noticing errors and trying to correct them, especially in food service establishments where I worry that the server might have to make up for the mistake out of his or her tips. A few months ago, I had dinner with a friend and as we were walking away from the restaurant afterwards, we were marvelling at how cheap our meal had been. At some point we realized that it had really been impossible for it to be that cheap and that something was really wrong on the bill. My friend was inclined to just let it go but the waitress had been really nice so I went back and straightened things out, paying an extra $10 or $15, I think, and the server was really appreciative.One other memorable error in my favor that I did NOT correct: an ATM machine once gave me a $50 bill in place of a $20. I suppose some bank clerk could have gotten in trouble over that, but I didn't think my returning the money would make any difference so I kept it, and was the envy of all my friends!

I once withdrew money at the bank once. As I was walking out looking at my receipt, I noticed that the balance looked unusually low. Then I saw the account number wasn't mine. They had given me money out of someone else's account! I had them fix it. Then more recently we noticed that there was a $3000 withdrawel that neither of us had made(We are not in the habit of taking ot $3000 in cash). It turned out that someone came in to withdraw money and the teller gave it out of the wrong account. Crazy, I know, but that is why it pays to be vigilant.

To be honest, a lot of this sounds like rationalization. Maybe that's the point of your post.. To show how easy it is to justify to oneself taking other people's money?

Picking up a dime on the street is one thing. Keeping an extra 20 cents from a coffee shop is pretty questionable. It would have taken zero effort to return the extra change. Taking the extra $30 from the ATM is pretty much over any line I can imagine.

At that point I'm having a tough time imagining when you would return the change. If the ATM gave you an extra $100, would you return it? What if a little girl with a lemonade stand gave you an extra $100? If the answer is different, why the double-standard?

About Me

My name is Madame X, and I am a 40-something single woman living in New York's lower Hudson Valley. I write about how much money I make, what I spend it on, how much I save, how I budget, my home-buying experiences, my financial goals and ambitions, my thoughts on class and what it means to be rich or poor, and anything else that relates to money. (More about me here, here, and here.)If you take any of my advice, do so at your own risk as I am not really qualified to give it. If you have advice to share, please do, and many thanks!